Data is the heart and soul of analytics for developers. Luckily there are plenty of tools for developers to use in order to better their workflow.  For example, the use of data lineage tools will allow users to get the full story on how their data will be used for analytics. Fully understanding how your data is accessed, changed and then shared throughout your company is practically impossible without the use of these tools. Many tools help companies gain full visibility into the lineage of their data as it moves through different departments. There are many types of tools businesses can use to boost their web development workflow. 

Below are some of the top must-have tools currently available for the web development industry. 

1. Slack

Slack is a great tool for teams to use for communication during web development workflow. The initial goal of Slack was to replace email communications with a quicker, easier platform. This tool allows teams the ability to seamlessly communicate internally with each other to easily stay updated on goals, milestones, scheduled meetings and issues during the process. There is also the ability to start conversations in different channels to separate different projects of development. 

2. Trello

Another great tool is Trello. It is a simple and effective tool for project and task management. It can allow individuals and teams alike the ability to manage tasks and development workflow. It can also be used for blogs, marketing projects and online businesses. It offers a simple user interface that up to 10 people on the team can use for task assignments, scheduling, attachments and task labeling. 

3. Redash

This is an ideal open-source tool to help visualize your company's data securely within a dedicated dashboard. The interface offers everything your company's team will need to query data, visualize it and then share it with others. It is integrated with most of the popular data sources such as MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL and ElasticSearch. Redash allows teams as a whole to track their milestones, stay on track with projects and engage with the other members of the team instantly.

4. Zapier

When your team has issues finding ways to integrate APIs, a tool such as Zapier can certainly help. It helps users move information between different apps with ease. Team members can use the tool to create processes and workflow tasks that are automated. For any developer that codes their own integrations, this tool will make workflow and tasks much simpler and the process more efficient. 

5. Draw.io

This tool helps developers with mock-ups, prototyping and architecture design tasks. It comes with a wide variety of templates to work with. The main purpose of Draw.io is the ability for teams to design systems, processes and views before they go ahead with code implementation. It can also be used during the design process before photoshop is used. This tool is an add-on for Google Drive. This allows all of the collaboration and sharing capabilities of Google Drive to be used with the tool seamlessly. With this tool's easy insertion into sketch mode, team members can transition easily from flow charts to Bootstrap, Android and iOS screens.

Conclusion

Before a developer team deploys applications or even chooses a cloud provider to use, they have to think about the tools they will use on a daily basis for the internal workflow. The right tools can make a project go through the development process smoother and more efficiently. Some tools are necessary to boost productivity and keep team members in contact during the process. 

A huge component of growing as a team means finding tools that will simplify the communication between team members, simplify task management and keep the workflow going with fewer setbacks. Many of these mentioned tools are perfect for analyzing, managing and maintaining products before they are finished and ready to be deployed. Before purchasing or using any tools for your web development workflow, it is important to take into consideration the operating system you and your team use for each project.